Finding You
by pavelcchekov
Summary: In which Pavel and Hikaru are best of friends in every universe. A collection of one shots, mostly Chekov-and-Sulu centric. Will be updated whenever I get requests on tumblr or think of new ideas myself (if you'd like to request a short star trek fic my url is pavelcchekov).
1. Chulu: Botany Job, college au

''Hey, Pasha.''

Pavel Chekov looked up from his maths homework to the door of the small shared flat, blinking the numbers away. ''Oh, 'Karu,'' he said, smiling brightly and leaning back into his rickety office chair. ''You're back. How did it go?''

Hikaru Sulu grinned at his best friend and roommate as he dropped his messenger bag to the ground and flopped onto the Russian's narrow bed, stretching his tight muscles. The two had met three years ago, when Hikaru was 19 and Pavel, 16, at the university of San Francisco in Hikaru's hometown. Needless to say, they weren't fast friends from the start, but through the years they went from being Chekov and Sulu to _ChekovandSulu_. They decided to pool their resources and find a flat together, closer to the university, since Hikaru lived on the other side of the massive city and Pavel was an immigrant. Pavel helped him with his homework and got him into the good parties, and in return, Hikaru taught him self-defence and helped him with his frankly atrocious accent. It was a fair trade in their eyes. Hikaru wasn't dumb, but he certainly had other things on his mind than math, and though the Russian whiz kid was fiery and fearless, he was, well, a small foreign geek at the top of his class – prime target for bullies (and there were lots of them).

''It went great. I think they liked me,'' Hikaru smiled at the ceiling. ''They said they'd give me a call next Monday.''

He had finally submitted his application to the University of San Francisco to work at a botanical lab as an assistant last week, and had been called in for an interview this morning. No one but Pavel knew about his interesting in botany, and he intended to keep it that way for as long as possible. Hikaru knew there was no use denying it; he was a geeky kid. There was just something _exceptionally_ geeky about the study of plants.

Nevertheless, Hikaru had put together an application and sent it off to the San Francisco university, praying for a chance. He'd been hanging around the lab for so long most of the employees and researchers knew him by name, and his friend Haji promised to put in a good word for him when he finally applied. The possibility of following his dream meant more to him than his nonexistent manly pride; it wasn't like he had many friends outside of Pavel and that Kirk guy in his astronomy class he occasionally talked to, and Hikaru was pretty sure Kirk would think his botany job was the coolest thing ever. Botany had been his passion ever since his grandmother took him to help her look after the small bed of flowers on her balcony when he was 6 years old, and it felt good to follow the dream.

Pavel rose from his chair, physics forgotten, breaking Hikaru out of his introspective musings. ''Zhat's great news!'' he crowed enthusiastically, making his way to the freezer. ''Ve must celebrate your achievements, 'Karu.'' The Russian grabbed two shot glasses and one of the bottles of vodka he kept in the freezer at all times, pouring a shot for each of them.

Hikaru scoffed. ''Really, Pavel?'' He sat up anyway, accepting the shot he was handed. ''I haven't even got the job yet. Do you have to take every opportunity to get drunk? I know you're Russian and it's your thing, but come on.'' He downed it anyway, biting back a grimace. He wasn't a huge fan of vodka, but they had run out of rice wine last week and he'd been too lazy to buy more. Besides, alcohol was alcohol.

Pavel grinned back. ''Of course, it's in my nature.'' He downed his glass in one go and leaned back in his chair, content. ''Besides, you're here. Zhat makes it okay. At least I'm not some lonely kid drinking all by myself.''

Hikaru shook his head at his friend's logic. ''It's also in your nature to get to class on time,'' Hikaru reminded him. They both had early classes at the university in the morning, and though the small Russian had gotten drunk on school nights plenty of times before, there was no need to push his luck. They had a physics test tomorrow, and even though Hikaru knew the kid could ace the test hung over and sleep deprived, it meant _he'd_ be hung over and sleep deprived as well. Not happening, no matter how good Pavel's tutoring skills were.

Pavel waved his concern away, kicking his feet up to rest haphazardly on the tiny desk. ''Not a problem. Test will be easy. You ready to study?''

Hikaru groaned melodramatically, falling backwards onto the bed.

-

[18:02] pavel: do u want the notes from physics?  
>[18:02] gArDeN mAsTeR: sure send them over<br>[18:03] pavel: u should really change your skype name its embarrassing talking to you  
>[18:04] gArDeN mAsTeR: i resent that<p>

Hikaru had missed classes that morning, stuck in their flat with nervousness. His first day on the job was tomorrow afternoon and his nerves were out of control. Hikaru had never been particularly good with people. He knew everyone at the lab already, which was an advantage, but his stomach obviously didn't see it that way. He'd been chatting with Pavel over skype while the latter was in classes, taking notes for both of them. Hikaru sighed and ran a hand through his hair, absently typing a message to his friend as he paced the floor. A strange noise bubbled from his phone and he looked down.

_gArDeN mAsTeR is calling pavel ….._

''FUCK,'' Sulu almost threw his phone but steadied his hands enough to hit the cancel button. He hated doing that. Skype calls were the worst. It didn't even matter that he knew Pavel and saw him every day, Hikaru just didn't do skype calls and it wasn't his fault the send button and the call button were so close together.

[18:06] gArDeN mAsTeR: fuck sorry i didnt mean to do that  
>[18:07] pavel: ? do what<br>[18:07] gArDeN mAsTeR: u didnt see the skype call?  
>[18:07] pavel: no i was on another tab. u called me?<br>[18:08] gArDeN mAsTeR: didnt mean to

Well. He shouldn't have mentioned it. Even if Pavel was staring at the skype screen he probably wouldn't have noticed. Whatever. Hikaru felt his heart rate begin to slow to an acceptable level. Sometimes he hated technology.

-

Today was the day. The day Hikaru started the job of his dreams. Screw everyone who said botany was boring (it definitely wasn't) or nerdy (well, okay, yeah). Pavel had trailed along after him, chattering excitedly like he was the one about to start the job. Hikaru didn't mind, it was distracting him from his nerves. Pavel had even packed him a lunch for the day, how ridiculous. Hikaru scoffed when he noticed and told Pavel what a good housewife he was, who had sputtered and flushed red, denying everything. Hikaru felt his muscles loosen a bit when he laughed, and he was glad for his friend being there to get his mind off his first day.

He left his friend at the entrance to the lab, ignoring the younger's patronizing pats on the head and the cheesy '_have a good day at work, sweetie!' _He was gonna rock this.

He walked in, found his way to the manager's office with minimal difficulties, and knocked on the door, compulsively swallowing and smoothing his hair. His manager was a nice woman in her fifties, greying hair pulled up in a bun. Hikaru found her easy to talk to, and he was shown around the labs and facilities within moments. He knew most of the stations and what they were for, knew a bit about the plants and the current studies they were doing, but this was different, he was an actual employee now. Just an assistant, but still awesome.

He learned a lot that first day, and he was exhausted by the time he returned home to the flat some time after 9pm. Pavel was still up, hunched over his desk with a reading lamp pointed at his textbooks. The kid never stopped studying; his grades certainly benefitted from that. He looked up at the door closing, face breaking into an easy smile.

''Back already? How'd it go?''

Hikaru dropped his bag and flopped onto the Russian's bed, like he did almost every day he came home after Pavel. He smiled at the ceiling before throwing both arms up, hands clenched into fists. ''It was _awesome_!''


	2. Chulu: Lab Partners, hs au

'''Karu, you're supposed to be vearing goggles!''

Hikaru Sulu rolled his eyes, sighing to the ceiling before taking the pair of goggles thrust into his face by a very annoying (endearingly annoying, but still annoying) Pavel Chekov. High school chemistry was the one class he hated most, but his best friend being there made it bearable. Most of the time. Sometimes Pavel just liked to make his life worse.

''Pav, we haven't even started the experimenting yet, dude. Teach hasn't even passed out the instructions. Chill.

He looked away from Pavel, refusing to acknowledge the boy childishly sticking his tongue out at him. The small Russian was so gung-ho about chemistry and had been looking forward to this experiment all week. Hikaru figured he should cut him a little slack.

He groaned, mostly for dramatic purposes, before slipping the goggles over his head and snapping the snap theatrically. ''Fine, fine, let's kick this experiment's ass!''

''Language, mister Sulu,'' came the reprimand from their teacher, and Pavel snickered into his hand. It was Hikaru's turn to stick his tongue. Chemistry class wasn't his favourite, but Pavel made it bearable.


	3. Chulu: Trip to the Zoo, au

"It was a beautiful sunny day, and Hikaru Sulu was at the zoo. He didn't really want to be, but here he was. The reason he was at the zoo stood next to him, 5'5" and skinny and bouncing on his heels. Pavel was really excited.

''Hikaru, vhich animals do you vant to see first? Animals nearest to the entrace are ze...'' He studied the map of the zoo in his hands for a moment before continuing. ''Ze closest are ze bears!''

Hikaru sighed dramatically and waved his hand in the air vaguely. ''Lead the way, Pav, I'm just here for the cotton candy and the penguins.'' Pavel linked his arm with Hikaru's, and Hikaru rolled his eyes and grinned.

They had seen about 4 or 5 animals before they got to the snakes. Hikaru wasn't afraid of snakes, per say – he'd seen his fair share of garden-variety snakes when he'd had a little garden before he had enrolled in Starfleet Academy, but these snakes were... much bigger. He expected to skip them, as he couldn't really see Pavel being interested in snakes. Hell, the kid might be afraid of them, Hikaru didn't know. He was surprised, then, when Pavel let out a gasp of delight and pulled on Hikaru's arm, gesturing wildly to the snake exhibit.

''Karu, snakes! We _have_ to see zem!''

... Okay, that was rather unexpected. Hikaru gave Pavel a look. ''Are you sure, Pasha? I thought you'd be, y'know, scared of snakes or something.''

Pavel snickered. ''Are _you_ scared of snakes, Hikaru?'' He patted his arm, a mocking look of understanding on his face. ''It's okay, I understand. We don't have to see ze snakes togezer. You can stand outside!''

Hikaru scoffed. ''Hell no, kid. I let you in there alone, and a boa might try to eat you alive, knowing your luck.'' He made a show of giving Pavel an appraising look. ''Maybe not though – you're too skinny.''

Pavel swatted at his arm, but he was grinning. ''Vhatever, is untrue. Come on, snakes are waiting!'' He said the last part in a sing-song voice as he all but dragged Hikaru towards the exhibit, babbling on about the constrictors, corn snakes and rattlers.

30 minutes later, Hikaru managed to tear a cooing Pavel away from the snakes with bribes of cotton candy and funnel cake. He let Pavel talk about the snakes all the way to the food area, before purchasing two sticks of cotton candy and shoving one into Pavel's face, laughing at the younger's yelp and subsequent glares. Pavel took the hint though, and they sat in a comfortable silence and ate their cotton candy until Pavel's tapping legs bounced too high and hit the bottom of the table. They exchanged a look and Hikaru laughed. ''Fine, okay, let's get going. What's next?''


	4. Chulu: Wrong House, college au

Hikaru was startled from his book by a loud knocking on his front door. He almost spilt his tea. This had better be important. It was a little weird for the Asian man to get visitors, especially at this time of night – he didn't exactly have a ton of friends at the university and his parents lived on the other side of town. They would have called ahead anyway. He sighed, standing and walking to the door with a pleasant ''no, thank you'' on his lips for whatever kind of salesman probably stood on the other side.

He braced himself for the cold January air and opened the door, expecting to see a man in an ill-fitting suit with a collection of life insurance bargains, but instead there stood a kid, maybe a few years younger than Hikaru. The kid looked a bit surprised to see him, like he was expecting something

Can I help you?'' Hikaru asked after an awkward pause in which neither spoke. He suppressed a shiver.

''Oh, ah, damn.'' The boy looked nervous, and a thick accent permeated his words. He didn't seem affected by the cold. ''Zis is not ze house of Leonard McCoy?''

'Ah, sorry buddy, don't know anyone named McCoy. You lost or something?''

The kid threw his hands up dramatically, spinning around and pulling a beat-up cellphone from his jacket pocket. ''I sink so. Yes. I get directions from friend, but maybe not hear correctly.'' He fiddled with his phone while Hikaru watched, before he groaned. ''Battery is dead. _Damn_.''

''Um, would you like to use my phone?'' Hikaru offered, opening the door a little wider, inviting the kid in. ''What's your name anyway, kid? How did you end up in a neighbourhood like this?'' Hikaru did not live in the nicest part of town, but it was all he could afford, and he was determined to make it on his own. He couldn't really see a kid like this having any particular business in this area, but hey, he'd been wrong before.

''My name is Pavel Chekov. I vas looking for my friend from ze uniwersity, but I.. take wrong bus, I sink.'' The kid, Pavel, stepped in, glancing around the sparse and tiny room.

''That's okay. Happens to the best of us. You new to San Francisco?'' Hikaru began to search for his phone, somewhere in the mess that was his kitchen table.

''Yes, I come from Russia recently, study astrophysics in uniwersity here. Much better uniwersities in America than in Russia, I sink.'' Pavel had trailed behind him to the table, and was now standing awkwardly in the middle of Hikaru's tiny home.

''Wow, that's pretty impressive. I go there too, but I'm studying piloting. I'm Hikaru Sulu, by the way.''

Pavel hummed in acknowledgement, and Hikaru finally located his phone. He handed it to the kid and tuned the dialing and conversation out by busying himself with rummaging around in his kitchen for something to eat. He came up with a package of biscuits and didn't bother to look at the expiry date, clearing a place on his table to set them down and grabbed one. He chewed absently as Pavel finished up his conversation with whoever it was, probably this McCoy person.

''Vell, McCoy says he knows vhere I am and gave me directions to proper bus stop. Sank you for use of your phone!''

''Oh, uh, sure,'' Hikaru was a little sad to see him go. He gestured to the biscuits. ''Take one. For the road.''

Pavel grinned and took a handful. ''Vell, I vill, ah, 'see you around'? Ve go to same uniwersity, after all.''

Hikaru grinned back. ''Yeah, that's right, we do.''


	5. Spones: roommates, academy era

''Mister McCoy?''

The knock at his door and the voice of the dean startled Leonard McCoy out of his concentration, and he pushed the chair out in one swift motion, grumbling about interruptions and peace and quiet as he stalked to the door, jabbing the button with his index finger and watching it slide open to reveal the face of the school's dean and another man. This wasn't looking good for Leonard's continued peace and quiet.

''Mister McCoy, this is Mister Spock. He has just arrived on Terra from Vulcan, and he will be studying at the academy for the time being. As you may be aware, there are a limited number of beds available, so Mister Spock will be rooming with you. I assume this will not be a problem?''

Leonard wanted to tell the dean exactly how big of a problem this would be, but he stayed quiet, giving them both a glare before sighing and scrubbing a hand down his face, stepping aside so the man – Vulcan, _joy_ – in with his meagre bag. Rooming with a Vulcan was exactly the last thing Leonard ever wanted to do.

The dean left with promises to arrange a tour for Spock, and the two settled into an uncomfortable silence in the wake of the dean's absence.

''Damn it,'' Leonard muttered to himself before dropping back into his chair, determined to ignore the Vulcan's presence. If he didn't acknowledge him, he didn't exist, right? Too bad the Vulcan wasn't inclined to make it easy for him.

''You are Leonard McCoy, medical student,'' Spock stated, voice calm and controlled, one perfectly curved eyebrow raised slightly. Leonard hated him. He spun around in his chair and fixed the Vulcan with a poisonous look, arms crossed. Spock just stood there with his bag.

''That's right, genius. Take you long to figure that out?' Never mind, don't answer that.'' There was an awkward pause where neither moved or spoke. Leonard broke the silence with a weary sigh. ''I sleep on the right side of the room. Don't touch anything of mine and don't get your junk anywhere near mine and we'll get along famously.''

Spock's eyebrow raised a little higher. ''I now understand why all of your previous roommates are listed as having transferred out.''

Leonard snorted, uncaring. ''Yeah well, I like my space. Sue me. Everyone else is too loud.''

Spock did not respond, choosing instead to move to the untouched left side of the room and drop his bag on the small bed. Leonard didn't bother to watch the man – Vulcan – unpack, choosing to return to his homework instead.

An hour later Leonard looked up, startled by something he couldn't place. He looked to his left and jumped minutely at the sight of Spock sitting primly on his bed, calmly reading some Vulcan text. Leonard had forgotten he was there. Maybe this roommate would work out after all.

''Say,'' he started, and watched the Vulcan mark his page and look up at him, ''Did the dean say when he'd be taking you around?''

''He did not,'' Spock responded.

''Well, I'm almost done this assignment, and since you've proven you're not a wild hooligan like most of the students here, how's about I give you that tour?'' Come on, Leonard was feeling generous, and he was in a good mood with his assignment almost completed, and in silence too.

pock's right eyebrow disappeared behind his neat fringe, and he set his book down. ''That would be acceptable.. Leonard.''

''Oh _please_, no one called me Leonard. Call me McCoy.''


	6. Spirk: Nerds and Jocks, hs au

p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"''What's up, nerd?''br /br /Spock looked up from his chemistry homework to the owner of the shadow currently falling over his books, brushing neat dark hair from his eyes. James Kirk, the Golden Boy, most popular student in school and possibly the county, grinned down at him, the sun creating a halo of light around his face. Spock noted such things out of academic curiosity, of course. He also noted it complemented Kirk's golden blond hair. Again, this was a purely scientific /br /''May I help you?''br /br /James flopped down onto the unoccupied seat beside Spock, and Spock noticed he didn't have his usual gang with him. Leonard was curiously absent, not the Spock minded at all, but it was unusual. James let out a melodramatic sigh and ran a hand through his pleasantly tousled hair, throwing Spock a 'woe-is-me' expression. ''I have a chemistry test tomorrow.''br /br /Spock wasn't sure how this related to him, but he responded anyway. ''Yes, so do I. We are in the same chemistry class.''br /br /''I know that, emMister /emSpock. I'm here because I haven't been taking notes at all this week and I have no idea what the test's gonna be like. Len refuses to help, so I thought to myself, who better to ask than the school's dorkiest student?'' He grinned patronizingly as he patted Spock's arm. ''No offense, Spock, but even Chekov's marks aren't as good as yours.''br /br /Spock allowed a small flutter of pride, before putting down his pen and turning more fully towards Kirk. ''It is very improbable that you will be able to retain enough information to get a very high score on the test tomorrow, but,'' he continued, allowing a tiny smile, ''I will do what I can.''br /br /Kirk clapped his arm and stood, all big smiles and blond hair. ''Perfect. Come over after school?''/p 


	7. McKirk: QP Relationship, academy era

p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="color: #000000;"Jim Kirk was a sexual guy, there was no denying it. He enjoyed passing the time with flirting, he often spent the night with women or men or aliens or non-binaries, and he enjoyed it. Everyone was attractive, and everyone was game with spending the night with an attractive /br /Well, that's not true. There were some people and other species Jim had encountered who just weren't into him. Or anyone. It wasn't a big deal, Jim didn't take it as a personal offense, but he had wondered. A good example was one Leonard McCoybr /br /McCoy and Jim had met earlier that year, having been assigned a room together. As was his custom, Jim began their friendship by innocent flirting, a few jokes here, a few compliments there. It was fun for him, and McCoy wasn't a bad looking fellow. Not the tallest, but neither was Jim, and that didn't matter to him anyway. McCoy's dark eyes and Georgian drawl had caught Jim's eye, and though he wasn't in love (he didn't really do romance, he'd noticed), he appreciated it. McCoy hadn't been very receptive to his flirting though, all snorts of derision and eye rolls, and he never flirted back, so Kirk decided to drop it. No point in continuing, and it might even be making the other man uncomfortable. This thought struck Jim on his way to class one morning, and he actually stopped in the middle of the hallway to think about it. Did he make other people uncomfortable? He hoped not, but... He decided he would take it up with his roommate later, after classes. It was good to have an open relationship with your roommate when you're gonna be living with them for the better part of a /br /''Hey, Bones,'' he greeted as he walked into their room later that day. The man in question, Bones (this nickname had been acquired when Jim found out his friend was studying to be a surgeon and assigned him the age-old lable 'sawbones'), was hunched over this desk, lamp shining over his padds and current assignments. br /br /Bones muttered a greeting in return, deep in concentration and scribbling furiously. Jim dropped his bag and flopped onto his bed, watching the other man for a moment before breaking the silence. br /br /''Bones, does it bother you when I flirt with you?''br /br /Bones' head shot up and he gave a short bark of laughter. ''Now why would you think that, Jim?'' He turned in his chair, giving Jim his full /br /''I don't know, you just never flirted back and I've never seen you out on any dates or anything.''br /br /''Jim, I'm just not interested in flirting or dating. Doesn't bother me, it's just not something I find interesting, that's all.'' He raised an eyebrow at his friend. ''Were you concerned?''br /br /Jim shrugged and grinned, standing to clap his friend on the shoulder. ''You wanna go out some time?''br /br /Bones frowned. ''I just said I wasn't into dating, Jim.''br /br /Jim waved a hand through the air, looking unconcerned. ''Not that kinda date, Bones, don't worry. I emdo/em listen when you talk sometimes, you know.'' He laughed at McCoy's exaggerated eye roll. ''Nah, I mean like a friend date!''br /br /There was a silence between them and Jim's grin started to fade a little, before Bones /br /''Okay, I'll bite. A friend date?''br /br /Jim's grin returned full force. ''Yeah, where you and I go out as friends! Catch a movie, go bowling maybe? Y'know, do friend things together!''br /br /McCoy's eyebrows shot up, and he looked thoroughly unimpressed. ''emBowling?/em''br /br /Jim laughed. ''Or not. Whatever you want. Your choice!''br /br /Bones cracked a smile. ''Well, I can think of a few things better than bowling.''br /br /-br /br /That had been 3 months ago, and the friend dates had since become a weekly occurrence. Sometimes they went two or even three times a week, schoolwork permitting. Consequently, Jim was spending less and less time in others' rooms for the night, and more and more time cuddling with Bones, eating replicator popcorn and watching cheesy horror vids late at night. It was nice. Really nice. br /br /''So are we, like, a thing now?'' Kirk asked one night, tucked under both of their blankets beside Bones, snatching a piece of popcorn from their shared /br /''What, like a couple?'' Bones snorted. ''Sorry Jim, but I'm not in love with you. You're not in love with me either, I know.'' Jim nodded his agreement. ''We're a, what do ya call it, a couple but not a romantic or sexual one.''br /br /''So, a friend couple,'' Jim /br /''Sure,'' McCoy indulged, burrowing further into the nest of blankets they had created. ''A friend couple.''/span/p 


End file.
